"What are these clothes?" he asked as he looked at his own reflection on the mirror.

"They suit you well, you have nothing to worry about. I thought that these clothes would be suitable for the ceremony that it´s going to take place tonight" Rhea said as she looked at him with true devotion. His clothes were rather unique; a contrast between light and shadows yet they were quite comfortable. They were also sturdier than they appeared to be, yet he felt as if he was wearing plain clothes not an armor.

"It might be a light armor, but its quality surpasses most medium armors, although you have nothing to fear, the Church and myself will make sure that everyone stays safe. I won´t allow any problems to happen today"

"You said that you attended the ceremony once before. Tell me, how was it?"

"It was at what appears to be a lifetime ago. It happened when I assumed my position as the head of the Knights of Seiros, that was the time when I was able to hear the words of our beloved mother" Rhea said with a dreamy look. "However, this is not the time to talk about the past, but about the future. The world of Fódlan has lived in harmony for many years thanks to the teachings of the Goddess. It is true that there have been some problems along the way, but the existence of the Church has been the key to enhance this world. The Goddess entrusted the Church of Seiros with the wellbeing of this world and we, the guardians of the faith, have been loyal to that old oath for centuries. When you receive the revelation of our creator, I have the hope that you will feel the same about it"

He closed his eyes for a moment. "A world of true peace" he thought; it may sound like an impossible utopia, but deep within him he wished for a world where the problems his students had been facing disappeared, although he wasn´t so sure that the Church was the road to such objective.

"I have a question"

"Feel free to ask me anything"

"Do you think that this world needs to change or is it good as it is?"

"That is a really difficult question. Of course, we can always aim to higher heights, but how can be sure that the measures will take won´t worsen the state of this world? The reality is that this world is imperfect, because its rules are made by humans which by definition are gullible and corrupt. However, those closer with our creator can guide the rest to the path of rectitude. The lamp that has been guiding the people of Fódlan is and will be the Church of Seiros. Our mere existence during centuries is the firm witness that our actions had contributed to the greater good of this land. You can compare it to the role you have assumed with your students. You have battled with them and you have guided them through their hardships. The Church assumes the same role with the entire humanity"

"And what should I do to those who oppose the Church?"

"You already know the answer of that question" Rhea was still smiling but her eyes grew colder. "Revolutionaries will only bring war and famine for the sake of their own ideals. They will cry about justice and a better world to live in, but in the end, they are only interested in their own petty ambitions. Lord Lonato fought for his ideals, but in the process unnecessary sacrifices were made. The seek of power corrupts even the noblest soul, that´s why it is important to create a balance between the different visions of the world and the Church had assumed such role for centuries. Any more questions?"

"I´ll do the best I can"

"I would never expect less from you. It will be an honor to accompany you in this ceremony"

…

"Wow, Teach is going to receive a revelation from the Goddess; perhaps if I dye my hair green the Goddess would whisper something in my ear"

"You don´t sound very convinced about it, Claude. Are you having a crisis of faith?" she asked with a smile on her face, although she was feeling extremely nervous. In a few hours everything would have changed, there was no turning back. She already knew the location of the throne room, but to access the place the defense mechanism must be deactivated first. Her soldiers were already nearby, waiting in the hidden passaged she had been searching during months.

"Well, I wouldn´t consider myself a pious man, but if something interesting happens I´m all for it, although don´t you think that Rhea is in a hurry? She is really looking forward to this ceremony as if it was her birthday or something"

"Claude, after all these months you keep speaking like that in a monastery. It is clear that it must be a great event for all the members of the Church"

"Are you included within their ranks, Dimitri?" Claude laughed. "You look tired. Are you too excited about this?" Dimitri had eyebags under his eyes and he appeared to be tired, yet the fire of his eyes told her otherwise.

"I´ve been thinking about many things, but I won´t annoy you with my mundane problems. Do you think that they will let everyone accompany the Professor? He has been our mentor after all"

"I don´t know, but even if I´m not allowed I might happen to sneak into the room" Claude said with a mischievous smile.

"You shall not have such need, Claude" The archbishop´s voice said. When she looked at her, her heart almost stopped when she noticed his presence. His clothes had been changed to an armor with an excellent quality, giving him the appearance of a king of old.

"Forgive my words, I was just joking" Claude said with a light bow, before looking at the Professor with a surprised look. "Wow, you look so changed. Do I have to call you your Majesty or something?"

"No need of such formalities with me, Claude. I haven´t changed" Byleth smiled

"The Professor has talked with me about the ceremony and I agree that the presence of his beloved students should be allowed. However, because of security reasons, I think it would be advisable to limit the number of students able to attend the ceremony. All the students of the Black Eagles should be allowed since the Professor had been their tutor during these months and I will also allow five more students from the other houses to attend the ceremony. Only five in total, I know that some of you will complain about this, but I wish to preserve the security of all of us. The Professor thought in particular about you and Dimitri and I agree with him. I think that it is a good deal for you Claude. That way you won´t be facing an expulsion for entering without proper permission"

"I´m sorry about that, Lady Rhea, my apologies and I feel honored by that. Only five of us then, uh. Well, in my house I don´t see that many students interested to be honest, although the one I would choose would be…"

"Me" Lysithea said as she approached them. "I´m intrigued by the so-called ceremony and since it may be the first and last time I´ll be able to witness something like that I want to take this opportunity. Besides, I´m thankful because of the Professor´s help. He has really treated me like anyone else despite my age difference and I wouldn´t mind spending some time with him or Edelgard during the ceremony"

"And not with me? That´s harsh" Claude laughed. "Well, the choice has been made in my case. Dimitri feel free to choose the remaining two"

"If her Highness comes I´ll go as well" Dedue said approaching them. He was accompanied by Felix, quite an unusual pairing.

"I´ll go not because of you, boar, but because of the Professor. We aren´t done yet with all our enemies and it might able to take advantage of that situation to improve my abilities"

"You were nicer when you were younger. I wondered what happened to that boy"

"It died, but now it isn´t the time to talk about the past, not in front of everyone"

"Forgive me, it seems that the matter is settled them" Dimitri sighed. "Professor, I appreciate your trust and I won´t betray it" Dimitri said with a light bow.

"Oh, so you were here" Yuri said accompanied by the rest of the Ashen wolves. "Rhea asked us to take care of the Abyss while she was with all of you, so no need to apologize. You will have plenty of time to tell us your experience at the banquet"

"Wine and a good piece of meat are a great way to start a conversation" Balthus laughed.

"Thank you for your understanding. With you in charge of the Abyss, there is nothing to fear" Rhea smiled. "The time of the ceremony is quickly approaching; shall we start going?" Rhea asked as she offered him her arm. Even if she knew that that day would turn them into enemies, she couldn´t avoid feeling a bit jealous at the sight of it.

….

The sun had already set when they entered the cathedral.

"I´m feeling a bit nervous about this" Bernadetta muttered

"You have nothing to fear, Bernie. The Professor is here and this place is well protected"

"Dorothea is right, Bernadetta. It is more probable that you die falling down the stairs that being murdered by someone"

"Come on, Linhardt, if you are trying to encourage her, you are doing it pretty bad"

"I was just being realist, but yes, everything will be fine" Linhardt yawned as he lost interest in the conversation.

"Are you always like this, guys?" Claude laughed as he continued walking.

"Everyone is different, but that´s why we are stronger. The Professor has made us understand that we are stronger together. I´ll apply that knowledge when I return to my land"

"Brigid, right, I would like to visit it someday"

They were in front of the statues of the saints of the church. Rhea bowed before them an adopted a praying gesture.

"Protectosr of the world of the living, open the way to true light" The moment she said those words the statues started to move, revealing a hidden room, strange glyphs on its floor.

One by one they started to enter the room in front of them, a giant crest of flames drawn on one of the walls caught her attention. When the last of them entered the room, the path whence they came close again, leaving them trapped.

"Benevolent mother, I fear nothing but the lack of sunlight. Bring me closer to you and I shall remain under your embrace, guide me to the true light" With those words the platform started to descend by itself. Despite its weigh it was descending quite swiftly as if had just been recently used. All of them were completely quiet, some of them surprised and some of them scared.

She was starting to wonder if they were heading into the center of the earth when the platform finally stopped. In front of them there was a statue of a monstrous size, only its feet could be seen properly. There were no torches there, yet windows around them made her feel like they were outside. It was strange feeling like that when they were in the depths of the monastery.

"We have finally arrived" Rhea said as she approached the feet of the statue and touched them, as she did so, a secret entrance was unlocked, a green light coming from the unlocked area.

"Now there is nothing to fear. The Goddess knows that we are trustworthy and won´t oppose our entrance. However, please show your respect as you do so. We are entering her earthly home, after all.

She was scared that the beatings of her heart could be heard as she tried to fight her nervousness off, but the archbishop only had eyes for Byleth.

"Please, protector of the Goddess, enter the room. You deserve to have such honor after all"

"Understood, follow me"

"And now the end of this farce will begin" she thought as she entered behind them. She knew that Rhea was up to something and she didn´t like a bit her focus on Byleth. With a quick look to Hubert, she knew that everything was ready.

"The time has come" It was ironic but she felt relieved and stressed at the same time as she entered the sacred room.

…

"This is the throne where Sothis was said to rule this world in ancient times" Rhea said as they approached the center of the room. Looking at the giant throne before him made him feel sad about the lost of her dear friend.

"Sothis I have so many things that I want to ask you" he thought.

"The fact that there was such space in the depths of the monastery is highly surprising" Edelgard commented next to him, her eyes alert. After the events of that night he hadn´t been able to confront her alone, but he had the hope that after the ceremony ended, he could set the matter of his feelings once and for all.

"If you told me something like this existed, I would have thought you were joking. We really are in front of true history" Claude said as he examined everything, his eyes shining at the sight of infinite mysteries.

"The throne is really impressive; a place of great responsibilities. If the Professor is the one chosen by the Goddess, his burdens will be heavy, but we´ll be there to assist him" Dimitri said with a short nod to him.

"To those with the favor of the Goddess a vision of the future shall be granted to them. You have come a far way; you have battled and you have overcome many hardships. Looking at you it is clear that you have the favor of the Goddess, creator of everything. Tell me, dear. Do you recall this place?"

"I do"

"Finally; my prayers seen to have succeeded. I have awaited a long time for this" Rhea said, tears about to leave her eyes. "Please, claim the throne as the champion of the Goddess and a vision shall be granted to you"

"Be safe" Edelgard whispered to him as he started to approach the throne. As he touched it, he felt it was warm as if someone had been sitting there not a long time ago.

"Now close your eyes. Fear not the dark and let the light of your faith enlighten you"

As he did so, he could feel a strange energy flowing from the throne to him, a small itching on his sword hand.

"Can you see something? Try to search at the depths of your own soul. The soul is the ocean where our life comes and only through our souls, we can approach our creator"

He could see what appeared to be a person in the distance. As she grew closer his heart stopped; an intense happiness overwhelming him.

"Sothis is that you? It feels like ages since the last time we´ve seen each other. I…"

"Silly boy. Why are you taking a nap at a time like this? The time of great decisions is about to come and remember, whatever you do I´ll be by your side" she said as she disappeared once again before his very own eyes.

…

"It should has happened something by now. Why…"

"Enough of this!"

When he opened his eyes again, the situation had completely changed. Soldiers were arriving from the entrance of the room, a red sigil on their chests.

"Those forces are the Flame Emperor´s troops. How could they enter this place?" asked as shocked Ferdinand.

"Because I showed them the way" Edelgard said as she approached the troops.

"So you were the Flame Emperor…How could I be so blind" Claude muttered.

"I am" hearing those words coming from her mouth hurt him more than a sword aimed to the heart.

"Why Edelgard…" He asked in disbelief.

"I told you, I´ll do anything to follow my path…even if that means facing you on the battlefield" the tone of her voice was confident, but there was sadness in her eyes.

"So you have been deceiving us all this time….Abusing our trust while committing so many atrocities. Aren´t you ashamed of your very own existence?" Dimitri said with his eyes filled with pure rage. "Why did you kill them all?"

"I don´t know what…"

"LIAR! Your hands are stained with blood, the blood of countless innocents and my own family. I´ll cut your head off and put it on a spike in front of the gates of Enbarr!" Dimitri shouted as he started charging at the soldiers, but he was stopped by Dedue and Felix. Even with the two of them, Dimitri was doing his best to break free.

"Let me go! She is the one I´ve been searching for so long! I need to avenge them or they will never forgive me!"

"Calm down, you boar!"

"Your majesty, I understand your pain but we have to fight together if we want to succeed" Dedue said as he looked at him.

"My hands are indeed stained by the blood of others, but you are mistaken about your assumptions. The root of your suffering and mine isn´t so different, Dimitri, but I doubt that you would understand" she said before looking at him. "Professor, I won´t justify myself, but I wish there is no fight between us. I leave you with the rest of the students" she said before looking at her troops.

"Take the crest stones from the tombs. Those who oppose us…eliminate them"

"It seems that the schoolyear has come to an unexpected end. Professor, it was an honor while it lasted" Hubert said while bowing before disappearing in purple mist.

"Edel…" muttered a saddened Dorothea as a reaction to the words of Edelgard.

"Did you use us all this time? I thought we were friends" Petra said as she unsheathed her weapon.

"I thought of you as a friend, Edelgard, but I won´t restrain myself if I have to resort to my magical capabilities" Lysithea said as she started to charge her powerful spells.

"The hell are you doing, Edelgard. Don´t be with the bad guys. This is a nonsense"

"I have to agree with you on this Caspar, but it seems that we´ve been played all this time, but you´ve committed a fatal mistake. If we remain together, we´ll be to defeat anyone, even you" Ferdinand said with renewed determination in his eyes.

"Ferdie…"

"I´m with Ferdinand. I´ll make you sure that no one of you gets killed"

"I hate fighting but this is a fight I can´t run away of"

"How outrageous, how dare you to commit such devious acts in this sacred place. You are betraying your very own ancestors with your evil acts" Rhea was extremely furious, her eyes glowing like fire. "Professor, the treasures within this room are of great importance to the Church". "I will slow them down with my magic, but you must be the one to lead your students. We have to defend this place at all costs" Rhea said as she casted a spell that extended thin ice through the entire area. "They will not be able to escape using unconventional methods"

"Edelgard, the hell are you thinking? Ugh this has certainly messed everything I´ve been working for" Claude lamented as he prepared his bow.

"The time for questions will have to wait. For now, the only thing we can do is to prevent them from raiding the tombs" He said as he prepared himself for combat. He couldn´t believe what was happening in front of him but if his students were in danger, he didn´t have any other option, but to prepare to fight.

Some of the imperial soldiers were already raiding the tombs. Unsheathing his weapon, he approached one of the soldiers accompanied by Ferdinand and Petra.

"Why is Edelgard doing something like this? Of all people, the fact that she was the mastermind behind the problems of the last months is truly depressing. How was I so blind?" Ferdinand said as his lance met the halberd of one of the soldiers.

"Was she really?" he wondered. The Flame Emperor appeared to be on bad terms with the likes of Solon. The times they've talked about that matter she appeared to be sincere about her thoughts. With a quick look among the forces of the Empire he could see that the monsters were accompanied by soldiers that could only be members of the faction so interested in destroying him. "No matter what I have to sacrifice I´ll follow my path, even if that means facing you" her words came to his mind as he fought to recover the crest stones from the tomb.

To the other side Dimitri and Claude were leading the attack. While Claude was carefully taking down their enemies, Dimitri was using his great strength to kill them. The brute force of his hits was so strong that his spear easily shattered, but he continued fighting with a spear of one of their fallen enemies.

"By the way, where is Hubert?" asked Caspar, a few meters away from him. It was true, since the beginning of the battle Hubert had disappeared, but that could mean anything.

"I´ll take care of the beasts, advance through the sides and recover the crest stones!" he shouted as the first of the beasts approached him. Compared to the beasts he had been facing a few days ago, these ones were similar to the ones that had attacked them at the old chapel. Avoiding a blast, he jumped on the beast as he hit the weak spot of its neck. He felt that the skin was tougher compared to his previous encounters, but the lack of proper armor made his attacks quite effective.

Slow but steady they were approaching the other side of the room. Edelgard had been observing them in silence, but looking at her face she knew she didn´t plan to back down.

"I expected nothing less from you, my Teacher" she said as she jumped from the stairs where she was. "I have no excuses to make, I sincerely thank you for everything you have done to me"

"But why Edelgard? Of all people why allying with them? You could have searched for…"

"A more peaceful way? I wish there was one, but reality is always harder than expected. Those in power will never give it up in a peaceful manner; they will fight to perpetuate the system. I lack the strength to break the wheel of history alone and even if history despises me I´ll be the one tat started the change of Fódlan once and for all"

"Was it all a lie? All the memories that we made together". Looking at her, he could see that for a moment her confident look disappeared, leaving only sadness behind.

"It was all true…from beginning…to end"

"The next time we danced I thought it would be different" he said as he avoided her hit and counterattacked.

"Me too; perhaps in another life" Edelgard said with a sad smile as their weapons clashed. Even though they were surrounded by combats it felt as if it was just the two of them as they continued their dance of steel.

"You´ve learnt a lot" he said as he parried one of her attacks.

"I guess that I had a good mentor"

Preventing a low hit, he jumped on her. She tried to fight him off, but he immobilized her with his hands.

"You fought well, but its over now" he said as he looked at her directly into her eyes. He had many things to ask, but now he didn´t have any time left.

"It seems that my way ends here. I actually…" But her words were interrupted by the quick arrival of the archbishop.